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I missed out on 3D movies, but they're back in VR
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this post was submitted on 08 Jan 2025
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I'd honestly be down to buy a VR headset if movies otherwise used them in some sort of universal format. Definitely not buying Samsung/Sony/Paramount/Meta VR bullshit though.
You get to choose your format if you dump your own media. Plus you also get to host a media server and stop paying to not watch Netflix.
There are tons of options to play back 3D media on a HMD. Honestly my complaint here is that watching media on a virtual screen in VR kinda sucks. The quality just isn't there and you still have a big thing strapped to your face. I'd much rather have good glass-free screens and leave VR for VR things, but it doesn't seem to be the way tech is going.
It'd actually be kinda cool if there were movies with supplemental VR. That is, mostly 2d but with VR headset sections. I know they had this in the theatres in thr past with red/blue VR glasses, but it'd look so much better with a good VR headset.
The issue is that it's a bit of a hard sell within an already limited market segment. You'd need to already have a largeish TV, and then also a 3D headset on the same PC.
I'd think most VR enthusiasts would have their VR on either a standalone unit or on a gaming PC, not on their HTPC.
As you've said, watching an entire film in VR is kinda ass.
How would that even work? Like, small segments in immersive VR? That seems... very specific.
The idea with 3D TVs is they could do 3D on demand. They failed because even the lightweight 3D glasses were a bit of a hassle. It's fine in a movie theatre, more or less, where you know you'll be seated for the whole thing, but at home you don't want anything extra sitting on your face, let alone putting stuff on and off mid-movie.
I agree on the VR filmwatching being ass thing, though. It's hot, sweaty and isolating to do at home when your TV is right there, and it'll take a whooole lot of normalizing before I pull out a HMD while I'm on a plane or a train without feeling like a complete idiot, regardless of whatever Apple was thinking about how the Vision Pro would get used.
Yes exactly. They did this in theatres where small sections of the movie would be in 3D. There'd be a blinking icon to tell you when to put your 3D glasses on.
The problem with 3d anaglyphs is that there's a tradeoff: To get the depth information across, there's a big loss in colour reproduction. It's fine as a gimmick, but doing the whole movie that way probably isn't the best idea.
VR headsets just have a different set of tradeoffs (hot, sweaty and isolating ;) which make them basically equally undesirable for a good viewing experience.
The idea behind having only sections in 3d is that you only accept the tradeoffs when they're most worthwhile.
Meeeeh... at the cost of breaking up the experience pretty severely.
They did it that way in the days of anaglyph 3D because the color filtering made a mess of everything else about the movie With modern shutter or polarization you can just watch the whole thing that way with minimum issues.
And even those proved to be too much. Nothing short of perfect glassless seems to be enough. I can't imagine people would accept paying 600 bucks of a bulky HMD, stop a movie halfway and strap that on just to get immersive VR effects when they could just be playing a VR game instead.
Maybe as part of a more expansive mixed media thing, like in a museum or a theme park. For movie watching I don't think it'd take.
Spy Kids 4D
Yeah it would be nice to get Movies Anywhere or something fully on board. All the movie studios are sitting on 3D movies already, they just need to make the app(s).
I think I'd like more engagement though to really commit. Be able to turn my head and see more of the scene. Stand up and view a slightly different angle.
All of the tech exists to make this possible, I just don't know if filmmaking can work that into the mix.
It sorta partially is. On Apple’s movie store you get the 3D version with the HD/4K version. So if your movies anywhere unlocks the HD/4K it should unlock the 3D too. As long as the publisher has put the 3D version up there. And many did as a result of the Vision Pro.
I have a bunch of 3D movies available on my Vision Pro, and I’ve never specifically bought one in 3D. Many came from digital codes.
Apple has the largest collection of 3D movies right now.
The thing is, new content with proper 3D isn’t being made much these days. I’d estimate Apple has the bulk of what exists available already.
Edit: where am I wrong here?
There’s an app I got for Plex for my Meta Quest 3 and I gotta say that it is top notch. They have a bunch of settings for how you’d like your environment to look like but I prefer the one that makes you feel you’re at the movies and it really does feel that way.
Not sure if that’s what you were getting at or not but I enjoy it when I’m out and about instead of using my iPad or iPhone.
Downside is that you need to sideload this which requires a Meta developer account (free, just unnecessary hassle) as far as I know. Other is that it requires Plex and not the native Netflix/etc. app. Though YouTube has a similar format in their official app.